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If you’re uninsured, don’t read this rant

mj-maskI realize I’m privileged to even have health care coverage, so I feel somewhat guilty to lodge this complaint.  I’ve had a cold for about a week.  Since Friday I’ve lost my voice.  So even though I don’t feel awful, I keep thinking that maybe I should get this checked out in case it’s SWINE flu.

This morning I called my wife’s primary care physician.  (I don’t want to go back to mine — that’s another rant).  I asked if I could have an appointment with Dr. Slack (her real name) and the guy on the phone said, “She has openings at 9:15, 9:30, 9:45, and one at 11:00.”  It was already 9, so I said, “Great!  I’ll take the 9:45.”  Then he asks, “Have you seen Dr. Slack before?”  I said, “No, but she’s my wife’s doctor.”  Without missing a beat, he said, “Well that’s going to change things a bit.  She won’t be able to see you today.  She needs a 1/2 hour with new patients. “  So I asked, “What if I take the 9:30 and 9:45 appointments?”  His response, “New patients can’t have back to backs.  The earliest I can get you in is Thursday.”

“Uh.  No thanks,” I managed to croak before I lost my voice again.

Seriously, does he or anyone think she was going to fill those appointment times with less than an hour’s notice?  What’s up with that?

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June 30th, 2009 | Category: health, whining
  • The OpenID thing was annoying?

    But your G number example is funny because you're such an advocate for removing barriers. Ex. the cost of copying.

    Still, I concede that I probably have no clue why I couldn't get in, and while the phone guy was polite and all, it just makes me not want to go to that doctor, even though I know that might have happened with someone else.

    I remember moving here from a city of 60k, and had never lived anywhere bigger. I went to the dentist and then at the end, learned I wasn't going to have an actual cleaning. I'd have to return for that. So I found another dentist. Then I learned that's how all the dentists do it in Portland.

    BTW, when I linked this on FB, our friend Kristin B., said she had a horrible misdiagnosis from the doctor I was trying to see. Yikes! Maybe the phone triage saved me.
  • That was annoying...and me, btw.
  • OK, I am only putting this out there because I used to be an operator for medical answering services--there are all kinds of reasons patients can't have specific appointments in specific contexts.

    It's kind of like when people show up at reference and insist on doing this wildly important thing RIGHT NOW but don't know a g-number from a hole in the ground, refuse to take orientation, lost a book and are barred from registration, and oh yeah--whatever they're doing? It was due 10 minutes ago.

    So, I know it's frustrating as hell, but take a deep breath and imagine that they're trying to save trouble in the long run by having you come in at a time when they can actually register you, assign you a g-number, get your orientation taken care of smoothly, and get to know you. (OK, in reality they are assigning you a patient ID, ensuring HIPAA compliance, allowing time for a proper medical history, etc.) Yes it sucks when you're sick, but in the long run makes for a better health care provider.
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